Congressman Moneybags

Coming off of the news of a new study saying that the U.S. is closer to an "oligarchy" than a democracy, academic Nick Carnes brings up his own research that might just explain why: We keep electing the rich to public office. Carnes writes, "just 3 percent [of members of Congress] came from the kinds of working-class jobs that the majority of Americans hold."

About The Author

Kay Steiger is an associate editor at Talking Points Memo. She formerly worked at Raw Story, Washingtonian magazine, the Center for American Progress and The American Prospect. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, the Guardian, Jezebel, AlterNet and others. She graduated from the University of Minnesota. Contact her at kay@talkingpointsmemo.com.